2012 Book List Update: November/December

See earlier posts for lists of interesting books mentioned by members of my book club and other friends. The information below includes links to reviews or information from online booksellers.

A Working Theory of Love, Scott Hutchins
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781594205057-6
"In Stegner Fellow Hutchins's ambitious debut novel, the writings of Dr. Neill Bassett, who committed suicide in 1995 and kept extensive diaries for two decades, form the basis of a linguistic project to create the first software program to process natural language. Though the doctor's son, Neill Jr., is not a programmer, he's the only native English speaker at Amiante, the tiny three-man tech firm taking on the task, and his job entails humanizing the program so that it responds like a real person rather than a computer. During the course of the project, the emotionally distant Neill, a divorced 36-year-old living in San Francisco who thinks of himself as 'an experienced practitioner at the art of falling apart on the inside while appearing catatonic,' becomes involved with Rachel, a 20-year-old member of a cultlike group that employs questionable methods to engage its members. The relationship never sizzles because Rachel remains a cipher, but Neill's interactions with the software, which becomes more and more a stand-in for his dead father, and a rival software developer's provocative end-use plans for a successful Bassett-like program, create intriguing ethical dilemmas and force Neill out of his indifference. Neill's unusual 'one-on-one' with the program is revelatory and exciting. Agent: Bill Clegg, WME Entertainment." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Where'd You Go Bernadette, Maria Semple
http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780316204279-2
Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom. Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle — and people in general — has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic. To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence — creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, Jan Philipp Sendker
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781590514634-1
A poignant and inspirational love story set in Burma, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats spans the decades between the 1950s and the present.  When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be…until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago, to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the reader’s belief in the power of love to move mountains.

 The Round House, Louise Erdrich
http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780062065247-5
One of the most revered novelists of our time — a brilliant chronicler of Native-American life — Louise Erdrich returns to the territory of her bestselling, Pulitzer Prize finalist The Plague of Doves with The Round House, transporting readers to the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. It is an exquisitely told story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who seeks justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and forever transforms his family. Riveting and suspenseful, arguably the most accessible novel to date from the creator of Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and The Bingo Palace, Erdrich's The Round House is a page-turning masterpiece of literary fiction — at once a powerful coming-of-age story, a mystery, and a tender, moving novel of family, history, and culture.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Cheryl Strayed
http://www.powells.com/biblio/18-9780307592736-0
A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe — and built her back up again.  At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than "an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise." But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.  Strayed faces down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

Sweet Tooth, Ian McEwan
http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780385536820-0
[Powells staff pick]:

Ian McEwan's latest novel is a Cold War–era spy tale that is not exactly what it appears to be. . . .  I guess I was fooled once again by the amazing mind of Ian McEwan. His inexplicable ability to crawl into a character and expose every flaw, every rationalization, every weakness, yet at the same time, expose their vulnerability and insecurity, is just flat-out astonishing. He doesn't tell the story so much as let you live inside it. His setting, his characters, and his tale feel as if they are your own — so perfectly do they dovetail into your world. It's uncanny. After reading my eighth Ian McEwan novel, I'm convinced that he just gets better and better. The man is at the absolute top of his game. Let me just say that Ian McEwan is the greatest writer living today.

For the 2012 National Book Award finalists, see http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2012.html#.UJXpAr9Lq2Q.

Mallorca days 6 and 7

On Thursday our ride was much less dramatic than Wednesday's submarine trip. We rode again through fields, past farms, up and down hills, through small towns -- all in sunny weather with no wind. The photo of a stone building with purple flowers shows you our destination, a beautiful "agriturismo" farmhouse/hotel where everything looks like it's 150 years old but it all works like the 21st century.

One problem did delay us: our friend Gary had a flat tire that was almost impossible to fix, because the tire was so tight against the wheel that it broke the tools. After a half hour of work by four people (illustrated below), we had to summon the support van. Grr.

That night, we had a cooking lesson from the chef at a tiny but excellent restaurant in a town near our beautiful farmhouse. Then we ate her wondeful food, including a dessert with sauce made from prickly pears. It was delicious, and not prickly at all.

On Friday, we did not ride bikes. Mallorca is flat except for the Sierra Tramuntana, rocky mountains that separate the west coast from the rest of the island. We took a little train over the mountains and through tunnels to get to the west, then took a long walk uphill for lunch at a restaurant with the view you see below -- all the way out to the sea. A fine last day of the bike trip.

Mallorca days 4 and 5

On Tuesday we rode about 35 miles to a town on the north coast of Mallorca, passing lots of sheep and pig farms, plus orange groves and vegetable farms with big, beautiful cauliflowers and leeks. The photo below with a town in the distance shows you our destination. It was a very pleasant day of riding with a few hills and almost no wind.

Wednesday was different, as the goal of the ride was a spectacular cape, sticking high up in the sky and far out into the sea. The road to Cap Fromentor has long hills, so some of the people in the group (including me and Dan) used electric bikes to make the climbing easier. This was very interesting: you pedal, but the bike also has an electric motor that really makes a difference. Very cool.

However, electric bikes do not stop rain. By the time we reached the lighthouse at the way-out end of the cape, we were soaked. (Even the people with rainjackets were wet; I had only my windbreaker and I was dripping from head to toe.) We were also tired from the effort of riding on rough pavement with cars and giant tour buses passing us on the narrow road.

I took the photo of rocks and sea from the lighthouse, during a very very brief break in the rain. We enjoyed the view, quickly, then started back toward the town, 12 miles away. We were wet and cold, but we knew that the electric bikes would really help us go up and down those long hills again, though we had to be extra careful because the pedals were very slippery.

Then it started raining really hard. In addition to hills, cars and buses, rough pavement, slipping feet, and chill, we had a new problem: we could not see clearly through the pouring rain. And the road was now like a creek bed, with water flowing everywhere. We stopped to rest in a parking lot where we could get under a roof, but we were so cold that we had to get moving again.

Then Dan's electric bike suddenly stopped working -- apparently its battery was dead -- and we had no choice but to walk. Pushing bikes that weigh at least 50 pounds. Uphill and downhill. On a narrow road. In the rain. With about 10 miles still to go. Hmmm, not good.

Fortunately the van, driven by one of our guides, passed us soon after that. The van normally holds nine people. There were already five people . . . and three bikes . . . in the van, so our friends sat on each other with bikes in their faces to make room for the two of us. We left the two electric bikes beside the road, to be picked up later.

You knew that the story would have a happy ending, so here it is: Dan and I really enjoyed our hot showers.

Mallorca days 2 and 3

On Sunday we started our bike ride, with the other eight people in the group and two guides. We've been on trips before with one of the guides, and two of the other guests, and it's always been fun. Mallorca is pretty flat with small gentle hills, so the rides would be easy if there were no wind. Too bad we had some wind both yesterday and today. But we toughed it out and enjoyed the rides, which were about 35 miles each day.

On Sunday we rode past small farms, old towns, and fields. People here grow vegetables and fruit, and they raise cows, sheep, pigs, and goats. Sometimes the animals are on the roads, like the goats in my photo below.

Today (Monday) we saw some really interesting things. The group stopped for coffee in a town called Petra, where I was excited to see signs pointing to rhe birthplace of Junipero Serra. He started the missions in California, including Mission Dolores. He came a LONG way from Mallorca to San Francisco. Below you can see a statue in his memory.

The other great place was a farm that was built in about 1750. People have restored the building and filled it with furniture, art, tools, clothing, and food (fake, of course) to show what it was like over 350 years ago. They also keep animals (for real) like the animals that were raised on the farm back at that time. Look at the pigs!

Arrival on Mallorca

On Saturday, we took a short flight from Barcelona's beautiful airport to Palma, the capital city of the island of Mallorca. It was cloudy and windy as we arrived, but at least you can see that Palma is right on the sea.

We met up with the rest of the group for our bicycle trip and had a nice walk in the city. Tomorrow we start to ride, and I don't know if I'll have internet access in the little towns around the island. I'll send more when I can.

Barcelona's first language

This city is in a region of Spain called Catalonia, which was once a separate country, not too long ago. The language of Catalonia, called Catalan, is like Spanish in some words, but more like French in others. (I don't speak either Spanish or French well, so I can only give you my observations and guesses.)

After Madrid, Sevilla, and Granada, it has been very interesting, and a little confusing, to be in a city where Spanish is not the first language. Many signs are only in Catalan, so I have to guess even more than usual to understand.

The signs below give you an idea. One has Spanish and English in addition to Catalan (easy); one has Spanish (OK); two have only Catalan. In the sign with the girl in a wheelchair, can you figure out what the words mean?

Barcelona, day 4: rain in Spain

Friday morning was rainy, so we took our umbrellas for the walk up the Passeig de Gràcia. We wanted to look at some amazing buildings designed about 100 years ago, with curvy walls and lots of decoration on the outside. I hope you can see some detail in my photos.

We had not planned to visit the Sagrada Familia, one of the most unusual churches in the world. But the rain didn't stop us from making the longer walk, and I'm glad we did. Antoni Gaudí (who also designed some of the other buildings we saw earlier) planned this church, and when he died in 1926 it was only partly completed. It is still under construction today, as you can see by the giant crane, and they hope to finish by 2026. Because there was a huge line of umbrellas (and people under them) waiting to enter the church, we decided not to go in.

I don't know anything about the street sculpture with the submarine. I just thought it was cool.

Barcelona, day 3

On Thursday we went to an area called Montjuïc. We had been there in 1992, when we went to the Olympics in Barcelona. Today we returned to the Olympic stadium. The photo below of the winning runner is from the 1500-meter race in 1992. The runner was from Spain, so the crowd was just rocking the stadium . . . and we were there when it happened. I was excited to see the photo and to remember seeing the race.

The big building below is the Museo Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, an interesting art gallery with works from this part of Spain. In addition to much more recent art, the museum has some 800 year-old paintings that were originally on the walls of churches in another Spanish town. I don't really understand why the painting of a saint includes jugglers, but that's what you can see in my photo. (I didn't make this up.) To bring the paintings to Barcelona, they had to -- very carefully -- remove about an inch of rock from the walls, and transfer the paintings to cloth. Not easy!

Barcelona -- Palau de la Música Catalana

On Wednesday night, we went to a concert in the Palace of Catalan Music, which is a stunning building. The concert was fine, with one singer and two pianists. Even if the music had been bad, I would have enjoyed going to the concert hall. The photos below show you why.

Barcelona, day 2

On Wednesday, we spent the day in the oldest parts of the city. We went to the Cathedral, which was built about 600 years ago. I have three photos below: two show you the interior of the cathedral, and the third shows you the squawking geese in the pool of the cloister, a quiet courtyard beside the church.

Then we went to a very interesting museum about the history of the city. It is in a palace that was built on top of ruins from the time of the Romans, who started the city of Barcelona 2000 years ago. One photo below shows you what's left of a Roman aqueduct, which was part of the system that brought water to the city. The other picture of old rocks is from the underground part of the museum where people carefully dug into the Roman buildings and figured out how they were used. You can walk around down there to see the ruins of houses, a laundry, and a winery. Remember, it's all 2000 years old.

After learning about Barcelona's history, we went to another museum that was all about Pablo Picasso, a very important artist. He made the big drawing on the side of the concrete building in my picture.

Wednesday night, we went to a concert in an amazing concert hall, with decorations like you'll never see anywhere else. Stay tuned for photos in my next post.

Overnight to Barcelona

After the wonders of the Alhambra on Monday, we said goodbye to Granada late that night, taking an overnight train (called the "trenhotel") to Barcelona, a trip of 11hours. In the photo below, if you remember that Dan is over 6 feet tall, you'll have an idea of the space we shared for the night. When we got up in the morning, the train was right beside the sea, rolling north to Barcelona. We arrived at the very busy station, which is much nicer than it was when we were in Barcelona in 1992.

After breakfast in a cafeteria, we took a walk on the Ramblas, a very busy street with the cars on the side and zillions of pedestrians walking down the middle. In addition to the many sidewalk cafés along the street, there are small stands selling souvenirs, flowers and seeds, and funny pictures of your face, drawn while you sit in front of the artist. You can also buy birds, ducks, and rabbits to take home as pets.

Our favorite area near the Ramblas is the Boquería market. It's even more crowded and noisy than the streets, and the foods for sale will blow you away. There are candies, fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, nuts, spices, juices, cheeses, and more. Every possible color, texture, smell, and taste is jammed into the market for shoppers to buy. I didn't buy anything, but I did take away some photos to show you a tiny bit of the fun.

Granada, day 4

The big deal of Monday was our visit to the amazing Alhambra, straight uphill from our hotel in the old center of Granada. It's a wonderful place to see, with huge rooms, courtyards, and gardens built by the Muslim people who ruled Spain for 700 years, until they were defeated and kicked out by the Catholics in 1492. A lot of work has been done to restore things that had fallen apart over the years, and it is all beautiful.

There are fountains and pools everywhere; you hear water trickling or flowing whenever you leave a room or go down a staircase. The gardens are on many levels, with great colors and scents from all the flowers.

The rooms all have elaborate ceilings and walls, with Arabic writing and geometric designs. Some very skilled people created these amazing rooms hundreds of years ago, and other skilled people are keeping them in good shape now.

Granada, day 3

Sunday was a crisp fall day, just right for a walk into a very old part of Granada called the Albayzin.

The streets are very narrow and steep, and the pavement is all small rocks. One photo below shows the street outside a front door, carefully paved with white and gray rocks in a pretty pattern. In the middle is a pomegranate, the symbol of Granada. (If you can't tell that it's a pomegranate, at least notice the nicely-placed rocks.)

I didn't understand why the sign for a hotel would say 'Casa Ninguno' so maybe you can figure it out for me. But I do know why the Segway scooters (which you ride standing up) have such big tires: it's because these streets are so bumpy that you need a scooter with tires like an off-road bike.

At the top of the steep bumpy streets there is a small church with a plaza that overlooks the city. From there, you look across at the Alhambra, a very important place. It was built almost 800 years ago, and it has been a fort, a palace, and a city where many different groups of people lived. Nobody lives there now but thousands of tourists visit every day. We'll go there tomorrow.

Granada, day 2

There were a few drops of rain Saturday morning, but the forecast was for sunny skies and very pleasant temperatures.

Our first tourist stop was the Cathedral, the second largest in Spain. It's unusual in having a bright white interior, making it easy to see all the paintings and gold decorations. It has two huge organs, with big big big bass pipes that must be very loud. I wonder how the air was pumped through the pipes before people used electricity . . . did a team of strong men pump it like an old fire engine?

After visiting the centuries-old cathedral, we walked along the Genil river (looking back up to the mountains near Granada) to the Parque de las Ciencias, which is like a combination of the Exploratorium and the Academy of Sciences. It has lots of models that you can operate yourself to see what happens, and it has displays about all kinds of scientific subjects -- stars and space, different parts of the Earth, animals, machines, the human body, etc.

Our very favorite exhibit was a big dark hall showing the puppets of a company called Etcétera. I hope my pictures give you an idea of their funny and beautiful puppets. They also had HUGE ones that they operate with ropes and pulleys because the puppets are very (very) heavy.